Most memorable
-Avengers Infinity War – The one we have been waiting a long
time for. I remember when The Avengers came out in 2012, and I thought it
couldn’t get any bigger than that, well now it has. This was an incredible
movie going experience on so many levels, not only for the action, but for the
emotional impact, either you were crying or in shock at the end, I was in
shock, and that made waiting for Avengers 4 (title eventually to be announced)
more painful. I was excited for Infinity War, but now I am counting down till
the next chapter (8 months to go).
-Mission Impossible: Fallout – It’s rare for a sixth entry
in a series to not only be amazing, but possibly be one of the best entries in
the series. I haven’t decided if this is my new favorite or second favorite, I
still really like Ghost Protocol the best for now, but I am waiting to see if
that changes for this in the future. This was a great movie going experience, I
also made sure that my first showing for the movie was an IMAX showing and I am
so glad I did that, the last sequence of the movie was filmed with IMAX cameras
and it made the difference. This also involves my favorite use of
cinematography in the whole series, every shot is gorgeous, and it has some
incredible action sequences, probably some of the best in the series. Also, I
really like the soundtrack in this. If you have not seen this, I strongly
recommend seeing this in a theater if you still can. If you miss it, then I say
this has a great reason to upgrade to get an UHDTV (4K, the next big thing).
-The Incredibles 2 – After 14 years of waiting, we finally
got the sequel to The Incredibles. The fair question is if it was worth the
wait, and I say yes, I think there was a great story that was told in this. One
of my favorite aspects of this movie is Mr Incredible staying home watching the
kids when his wife goes to save the world. This takes him out of his comfort
zone and where he looks down on the responsibility at first, but eventually he
learns the importance of his role as a father. I really appreciated that
message about family, and I appreciate Brad Bird taking the time to make sure
that the story was right to do before giving a sequel to a beloved film. The
show stealer is Jack Jack of course, and my favorite parts is when he fights
off the raccoon and also with Edna.
-Won’t You Be My Neighbor – This wasn’t really on my list of
movies to see, but I saw a lot of good word of mouth that I became curious, so
I checked it out. I was glad to see it. Okay, this wasn’t a movie that made
going to the movies fun, but this was something I appreciated the crew going
out of their way to make. This explores the life of the man who created the
show Mister Rogers Neighborhood. I didn’t watch the show much as a kid but I
totally remembered it. Despite the fact, this left an impact and allowed me to
reflect my actions around others and those around me and how they affected me
to be the person that I am today. I encourage you to check this one out as it
will leave an impact with you.
Other great summer flicks
-Crazy Rich Asians – This recently got a lot of buzz, so I
became curious and decided to check it out, and I am glad I did. This featured
a lot of great shots and locations to look at. As well, this featured a very
good story, this story wasn’t new but just how it was crafted was something I
appreciated. All the performances were great, everyone from the newcomers to
seasoned, and some in between. This is something that is really worth your time
checking out.
-Ant Man and the Wasp – After the insanity of Infinity War,
it was nice to get a movie that was more fun and light hearted. This takes
place a couple of years after the events of Civil War, and shortly before
Infinity War (almost during), and it deals with Scott Lang waiting to get out
of house arrest, but then things happen and boom this is where the story
starts, and when it starts, it keeps going until the end. There were plenty of
laughs and fun. I have to point this out as others pointed it out, but many of
the Marvel movies focus on saving the world or the galaxy or the universe, this
movie focuses on saving a couple of individuals. And after all the fun, we get
an amazing mid credit sequences.
-The Meg – A movie about a giant shark that is actually fun to
watch, count me in. I was shocked to find out this was more fun than I anticipated it
to be. This is how I would describe the movie, Jaws on steroids with late 90s
action movies thrown in the mix. This is honestly the perfect summer movie if
you just want to go enjoy a big budget action movie with the fun and
excitement and don't have to do a lot of thinking. I also liked how some of the mini submarines looked like those
little spaceships in the Phantom Menace (yes the movie isn’t that good, but the
designs for some of the stuff was pretty cool, like the spaceships). Also, it
featured a lot of fun dialogue, you actually get Jason Statham saying Dory's famous phrase "Just keep swimming".
Enjoyable
-Teen Titans Go To The Movies – I had no desire to see this.
I started to see some of the original cartoon show from 2003 last year, and
still working to watch it all, but anytime I saw clips of Teen Titans Go, I was
never impressed, and with the trailer for the movie, my first thought was it
should be fine for the kids but I won’t bother seeing it. Once I saw it was
getting good reviews, my curiosity hit it’s peak and I decided to go check this
out, and I was laughing quite a bit, in fact I think there was a good 5 to 10
minutes where I couldn’t stop laughing.
-Christopher Robin – Winnie the Pooh is someone that many
are familiar with, while we may not have watched it all the time, we knew the
characters and loved aspects of them. What stuck out about this is that I
remember watching a few of the cartoons of Winnie The Pooh when I was Christopher Robins age when he was a kid. To be an adult now like Christopher Robin is in this movie and then rediscovering these characters after not really watching them for a long time, it had that sense of feeling of trying to rediscover that magic from when I was younger. I wasn't a big Winnie the Pooh fan growing up, but there was always a sense of charm whenever I thought of these characters, and seeing these characters all these years later that sense of charm transfer over.
-Solo: A Star Wars Story – I am among those that liked The
Last Jedi, and yes I am aware that there are those that are on the opposite side
of the coin, but regardless, I wasn’t really ready for another Star Wars movie
so soon, and plus this wasn’t one that was high on my list, besides the behind
the scenes drama. The trailer came out and I was intrigued, and then it arrived
in theaters, and I had a fun time watching this. I didn’t think this was a mind
blowing movie, but I don’t think it was suppose to be, it was meant to be a fun
little adventure. I also thought the performances were good. So yes, this one
actually surprised me.
-Oceans Eight – Eleven years ago, we were given the
conclusion to the Oceans Trilogy, though I thought we could get another one
after that, but after the passing of Bernie Mac who was one of the members of
the team, it seemed like the world moved on. Then they announce that they would
do a spin off with an all female cast, and I liked who they got. It arrived in
theaters, and I enjoyed it, I don’t think it was anything fantastic, but it was
an enjoyable movie that I think was worth seeing, and the cast did a great job.
Watch Once, then move on
-Kin – What, you didn’t hear of this? Don’t worry, I don’t
think many did, the first thing that stood out to me was the teaser poster,
just the colors looked cool and it caught my eye. I saw the trailer, and I
thought “sure, why not, I will check it out”. I got to see it opening night,
and it wasn’t anything remarkable, but it was an okay movie, and there were
aspects that I liked more than others. The gun was awesome, in fact all the
sci-fi elements were cool. The story was okay, it progressed the movie, there
were complaints it felt like two different movies, and I agree with that
complaint, but I was glad to see this. Also, what was cool was that it was an
original story which was refreshing, okay so the elements weren’t new but this
wasn’t a sequel or a remake, it was something different.
-Skyscraper – This isn’t a movie I really remember much
about, I saw it almost a couple of months ago when it came out, it looked
interesting, but I have to be honest, I really enjoyed it as I was watching it,
yeah we saw this kind of movie quite a few times, but seeing The Rock take on a
skyscraper, why not, that was enough for me to make it to theaters. There were
moments that it did keep me on the edge of my seat. I thought this was at least
worth a one time watch, but in a cheap seat (do those still exist?) or Redbox.
-Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – First things first, I was
not looking forward to this, I kept having Lost World vibes when I saw the
trailer, and unfortunately, when I saw the movie, I couldn’t help but get those
vibes. Regardless of the story being nothing great, there were quite a few
thrills that I was entertained by. I did not consider this movie a waste of
time, while this probably isn’t one I would rewatch again and again, I still
had enough fun to see it at least once and get some good thrills out of.
Major disappointment
-Fireworks – The first time I learned of this movie was
earlier this year when GKids announced they got the rights to distribute it
here in the states, I saw the poster (which looked really nice) and the words
“from the producer of Your Name”, and I was intrigued. I made sure that I would
see this the night it came out, and it was only a limited release of a few
days. I saw it and at the end I was disappointed. I thought some of the visuals
were good, but that was about it, and the visuals were not enough for me to be
that impressed. Last year, we got a couple of great movies from Japan, Your
Name and A Silent Voice, and I actually enjoyed Mary and the Witch’s Flower
earlier this year, so I was hoping for something good. I walked out of the
movie trying to figure out what was the point of the movie was. This was a
major disappointment, and didn’t even come close to matching what made Your Name
or A Silent Voice great.
So that wraps up Summer of 2018, and we head into Fall and Winter of 2018, which looks to have a lot of movies that should be great. I can't wait to see what great ones we get.
So that wraps up Summer of 2018, and we head into Fall and Winter of 2018, which looks to have a lot of movies that should be great. I can't wait to see what great ones we get.
